Webb Severe Duty has released a lineup of Webb Vortex brake drums for applications such as refuse trucks that are subjected to a higher frequency of braking stops compared to standard commercial vehicles.

Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems has expanded its curriculum at the Bendix On-Line Brake School. Since opening access to its knowledge database and technical resources in March, Bendix continues to add a wide range of new or updated courses to its curriculum covering all aspects of electronics and air brake maintenance.

Today's Trucking---30,000 brakes will be inspected on trucks across North America this week, and not all will pass. The annual Brake Safety Week held by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance will see inspectors taking a closer look at brake systems on your trucks.

This week is Brake Safety Week, one of two enforcement and outreach campaigns dedicated to promoting truck and bus brake safety held by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance each year. The unannounced Brake Check is held each spring and Brake Safety Week each fall.

A comprehensive new digital catalog featuring an illustrated “Trouble Shooter Guide” to common brake wear issues for commercial vehicles is now available through Federal-Mogul’s electronic catalog. It also includes the expanded Abex line of original equipment-quality replacement air disc brake pads.

Wagner Brake Products has announced a breakthrough in low-copper automotive brake friction technology that has resulted in stopping power, noise control and fade resistance. The new Wagner OE21 ceramic formulations are available immediately in Wagner ThermoQuiet CeramicNXT brake pads.

Coming up: another “non-event” for brakes? That’s what Phase Two of new federal stopping-distance requirements will be for truck operators, according to people we talked with. Stronger, higher-performance brakes on certain vehicles won’t even cost much more in most cases. But like Phase One two years ago, which was hardly noticed by truckers, Phase Two represents a lot of work for brake makers and truck builders.

Technicians relining Bendix brakes will soon see something new within the wheel-end: Bendix high performance brake shoes will now carry an eye-catching warning label to help educate the commercial vehicle industry about crucial performance issues related to relining. The effort is part of a comprehensive awareness program by Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake.

Meritor is reinvigorating a 75-year-old brake manufacturing facility in Wales, complete with a state-of-the-art engineering and test center, to meet expected increased demand in North American, European and emerging commercial vehicle markets.

" Since a 13-liter diesel engine with 40 tons in tow will never match the get-up-and-go of a Porsche 911 GT3, we G-force junkies have to get our fix with air disc brakes." Equipment Editor Jim Park got the chance to test the stopping power of several European trucks with air disc brakes on a trip to Europe last week, and he shares the experience in his latest "On the Road" blog post.

SAF-Holland's new lightweight SAF CBX69 Tridem Slider Suspension system is now available for trailer applications. The company says the SAF CBX69 sets a new standard for lightweight tridem suspension slider axle systems.

If you know what to look for, and are sensitive to the symptoms, you can spot many potential brake problems before they become real liabilities. And having concluded there's a problem, you can report it to the shop in a way that might prompt more than a readjustment of the slack adjusters.